What causes cavities?

You may think all cavities are caused by eating candy or sugar. It’s been a known fact for over 50 years that sugar alone doesn’t cause cavities! So how do we get them?

There are 4 Main Components that cause cavities:
Sugar
Bacteria
Susceptible Tooth
Time
Sugar can been also referred to as refined carbohydrates. They are anything that can break down into sugars inside your mouth can feed bacteria, which leads to cavities. For example, potato chips break down into sugars by the enzymes found in your saliva.

Bacteria constantly lives in your mouth. We can temporarily destroy the homes created by bacteria by brushing and flossing our teeth regularly.

A susceptible tooth is one that may be wearing away or is more vulnerable. This can happen due to acid erosion, or by drinking teeth dissolving drinks (coca colas, coffee etc.).

Don’t give the bacteria the time to settle on your teeth. The plaque on your teeth eats sugar and produces an acid which slowly eats away at your teeth. Continue to brush and floss to remove plaque build up too!

Cavities don’t just happen spontaneously by eating sugar. Make sure you take good care of your teeth and don’t give them the time to develop!

– Dr. Azim Parekh